Signal of the Mate Incomplete
by holospartoi258 - Alpha 01
Summary: Every echidna needs to be mated by 20... what happens if you spend 17 fighting for nothing? And what if you had a chance to find your mate but are too afraid to admit it?... Story to be completed by T1Weasel


**PLEASE READ THIS WARNING:** I do not own anything in this story except Noir, as well as a few minor changes to the storyline. Any Sonic-related character or theme belongs to SEGA and the Sonic Team. The story is set straight after _Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood_. However, the story is tweaked to make it look more realistic, as well to suit the chosen storyline:

1. The assumption that the cliff-hanger has been resolved.  
2. Nocturnus Echidnas cannot live forever- Ix, Noir and Shade's ages have been changed. Because of this, Ix is not the first leader of the Nocturnus clan, and thus did not cause the curse of the Nocturnus clan. Rather, the assumption is that the first and corrupt leader that caused the curse would be passed on, and that the 'corruption' would eventually wear off. However, Ix broke this chain by the philosophy of taking action rather than moping.  
3. Shade and Knuckles' character have been changed. However after looking at '_Don't Forget Your Duty_,' '_Not Alone for Long' _and_ 'A Shady Relationship'__;_ I have decided that this doesn't matter, where character could be all in the matter of aging. All that matters is that their character needs to fit into the storyline.

If I have missed out anything on this I sincerely apologise, because after all this is just a story. I mean no harm in any of my sayings. Most of this content has been inspired by the three Knuxade stories above [of which the latter's author _AngelCam7_ would write a better lemon than I would ever dream of], so if I really need to, than I daresay I borrowed content from these stories, as well as any other story you may find familiar.

Also, please do not criticize me outright and make unwise comments, because you have my word- it would have bad results for both parties.

This story is T-rated, but due to storyline I have asked _T1Weasel_ to help me write a lemon, which means that this story is incomplete, and that the complete version is M-rated. The mature version will be posted soon.

So I shall proceed with a wall of text:

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"Time heals all wounds" goes the saying. But, should you apply time to wounds, time would be sand grains in an hour glass, of which consists of sodium chloride: therefore, the saying should be instead: "Time worsens all wounds".

A philosophy as bizarre as this was adopted by seventeen-year-old Shade Nocturnia the Echidna [with excellent skills and business-like sttitude] of the Nocturnus Clan. Such a person in the clan had been living a lifetime of cursed eternity, of course now freed by her new found friends Sonic-and-Co., sharing the same fate as her ancestors as well as any other Nocturnus clan, of which the curse has existed since the Cretaceous Period, where they were banished in the Twilight Cage and were said to be the worst thing since the number thirteen.

The damned clan, however, found hope five years ago by a certain echidna- a governor named Imperator Ix. He proclaimed himself as the future liberator of the clan against Pachamac's, promising eternal freedom. Upon receiving this joyous news, everybody- including the then thirteen-year-old Shade- was elated. Shade had a firm belief that their clan was to be free of being an 'inauspicious burden' and from the trenches of 'prejudice', of which her belief superseded Ix's.

Once the general public entrusted full authority upon Imperator Ix the Ninth, it was too late- Ix abused the power and exposed himself to be a fraud, acting like a dictator and treating his people harshly as slaves and stripping them of their dignity. In fact, 'slaves' was a rather generous term, and so were 'dirt' and 'micro-organisms'- they were made to work, battle and train with not reward sans harsh punishment. He began to take over everything real and virtual and throw himself about as a tyrant- thousands died under his control. But honestly, what could they do?

All those who dared to rebel against Ix would have to engage in combat with him, of which all the echidnas were crushed in defeat, and were subsequently taken over by a mysterious force unknown to all but Ix- these became his 'minions'- the most accurate term available in the dictionary- and under his evil reign, where they would have been more dignified than the 'slaves', but the former would beg to differ should they actually have control over their minds. It is because of this that every living echidna stayed silent and dared not step out of line due to the fear of being punished- and besides, who the hell would have the courage to liberate a cursed clan.

To the amusement of Ix, one year after his reign, fourteen-year-old Shade had decided that she wanted to be the right-hand of Ix, despite being fully aware of the controversy it would bring. Ix never thought of having a right hand- however Shade was not like any echidna her age or twice her age- she was supremely intelligent and gifted in the area of combat. Her ulterior motive was hidden- which was that she wanted to gain the trust of Ix to spare herself any future threats from the tyrant, as well as playing a part in the liberation enterprise. Ix took her seriously and gave her a vigorous fighting test [not against him, obviously] to test her skill, and when she aced it, Ix promoted her, saving her from being mistreated or deprived of dignity.

The thing was, she wasn't deprived of anything- but love.

She was forever entrenched- whether she believed it or not- in the never-ending cycle of training, and she had no room for emotion or free time. Which meant she could not be with her friends like normal teenage girls would do- so what more could she hook up with somebody? And the thing was, she needed to in order to save herself any more controversy, because one tradition is that every echidna was to be mated before the age of twenty to spare themselves serious consequences, as a decree to increase population. Being a very busy echidna, Shade had no place in her heart for love, let alone a love life.

Of course, this integrated into nothingness when her eyes met an echidna of the same age and attracted her attention like a magnet attracts iron. Her friends called him Noir, and truth to be told for a fifteen-year-old he had a build any woman twice his age hunted for. But unlike the rest this wasn't what attracted her- it was his character, where he could act indifferent and act cool and aside from the general public, but also be nice to his closest friends. Noir too was reciprocally attracted by Shade due to her matching personality, and he began to act sweeter towards her to the point that they began dating. Her Signal was green like a traffic light to say 'go'- they were fated.

The Signal of the Mate is a sign which looked like a fancy 'N' more than anything else- every Nocturnus echidna bore a signal on the palm of his or her dominant hand. Should it emit crimson hue meant that the bearer was single, and an emerald green hue meant that the bearer is 'dating' his or her 'predicted mate'. Of course, this green signal was all in a matter of the sealing of a kiss. Then, the signal disappears completely after copulation, or rather sex, to signify that the mates have indeed… mated to seal their 'marriage'. But the things was that the term 'predicted mate' could apply to anybody, and should the mate die or break up, the red Signal appears.

Shade had tested her Signal on Noir by isolating themselves into her house, removing their gloves… and gently placing her lips on Noir. Noir had fully agreed to this, and graciously accepted her kiss- and after that they never wanted to let go if air was not an essential. It was mutually agreed that they do not mate due to a young age [seventeen was the most ideal], or rather, Shade had requested it and Noir was obliged to agree. One of his arguments was that should Ix find out she would be in deep shit, but then she assumed anyway that he wouldn't mind.

Before one of Shade's training, Ix had noticed Shade's emerald-green signal blaring in his face, and after of which Shade was assaulted with a tongue lashing and some punches from the tyrant, where Ix berated her for several minutes and at times threw jabs at her. Shade gave no response- it was reflected in the moisture of her teary eyes.

Then it suddenly struck Shade like a lightning bolt- being the right-hand of Ix meant that she was not allowed to engage in any romantic activity, nor have the pleasure of hanging out with her friends. She was ostracized from society, and the following day the one and only person who truly cared for Shade were pronounced dead from his assassin-Centurions.

Shade grieved sorrowfully, but Ix reprimanded her, and then he declared that nobody, not even the civilians, were to engage in any romance, since anyway Gizoids could be made to replace the worthless creatures, which didn't have the courage to stand up against Ix anyway.

Shade realised that she was going to have to be oppressed and wasting her life helping Ix liberating the clan- of course, the goal was fine, but the executor wasn't. And she slugged through such an ordeal for another 2 years being controlled by her master to the goal she ever longed for- so imagine her reaction when Ix betrayed her for the Master Emerald.

After a warm acceptance into the side she once rivalled against, her fighting and intelligence dearly needed by the team, she wanted to tell herself that now she can start a new life with the freedom to have friends, to be able to improve a relationship between another person, to love somebody…

Of which the latter was impossible, of course.

X-X-X-X

For an unknown reason, or perhaps by fate, Knuckles Pachan the Echidna (with his spiked fists and fragile temper) had his seventeenth birthday roughly two days after Valentines' Day, and Shade's seventeenth birthday fell on the same day. Shade kept this hidden from the rest- after all, who could possibly care in the first place?

Knuckles' birthday was celebrated with style and heartiness- with a combat tournament- of which unfortunately Sonic won-, a huge feast, and a grand finale of fireworks. And although the feast had no alcohol, Knuckles came back to Angel Island half drunk and staggering slightly- although his mental state was perfectly intact.

Knuckles wasn't surprised nor did he prepare for battle when he saw the shadow of the terracotta echidna sitting next to the Emerald, where she was invited by the crimson echidna to stay with him and it wouldn't be a burden to him, and she was obliged to agree, since where the hell would she stay in anyway? Not Amy's, that's for sure.

Shade had laid herself next to the green gem and began to think of what she would do next. She spent an hour thinking of Knuckles and the immense and undeserved kindness he had displayed- despite being Cretaceous rivals he had been rather cordial towards her, much more than the rest was, and even at one point saved her life. He reminded her of Noir… of which Shade released a silent tear tumbling down her cheek.

He also reminded her of herself- where he was rather kept to himself and was probably left out by his friends being stuck to the position of the Master Emerald's Guardian. Shade could empathise with him fully- because who the hell would want to stay near a heavy burden of a gargantuan green rock for the rest of his life? Like Shade, Knuckles wanted friends dearly, but couldn't, all because he simply had no room for any emotion.

Of course, there were times where Knuckles had fiercely defended the Emerald and refused to even part from it- but of course, it was his duty. Should he forget it, he would have to bear with serious consequences…

All this time Shade had been reminiscing over her past life- how is she to start her new life anyway?

Knuckles' face immediately brightened up as his amethyst eyes met Shade's lilac eyes, and he greeted with a smile that touched his eyes. "Hi Shade," he cordially said, and Shade returned it with a smile, which was painful and forced to the dismay of Knuckles.

As Knuckles sat next to Shade he realised she was not in her proper uniform- which under estimation was probably twice her weight-, where she had decided that this would mark her start of a new life. Instead she wore a white shirt with a black blazer as well as blue-black jeans and black tennis shoes. Her mask was gone, exposing her face that would put Aphrodite's to shame. Plus, her armour could reappear with the touch of her newly upgraded watch, courtesy of Tails, so she had nothing to worry about. Of course, Knuckles still wore virtually nothing.

Knuckles' mind fixated on the terracotta echidna, though his eyes wandered through the constellations in the midnight sky. "What a beautiful night, don't you think Shade?" Knuckles said half-unsurely, lamely attempting to create small talk. Shade bought it with no awareness of him trying in the first place.

"Yes… it is." Shade muttered matter-of-factly.

Knuckles' chin touched his knees. "It really is astounding… how the gods managed to create such a dazzling sky with all the glittering stars in the noir sky…"

At this point [and in a record of two minutes] Shade lost it- despite knowing that Knuckles meant no harm by replacing 'black' with 'noir', the word itself barraged Shade's innermost emotions and she burst into tears. Knuckles trailed off as soon as he saw Shade crying for the first time, which was puzzling knowing her personality, which was really a mask to conceal her past love life. He felt a mixture of empathy as well as anxiety, where Shade was crouched in a rather uncomfortable position weeping.

When Knuckles remembered how to speak, Knuckles managed to ask Shade in a slightly shaky voice, "Wha… What's wrong, Shade?" placing his gloved hands on her fragile shoulders. His startled tone only made Shade shake more violently due to his undeserved concern for her, and Shade rested her oh so tired head on the nearest platform- Knuckles' shoulder.

Knuckles never ever tried to comfort a female before, so he started to pat her shoulder gently. "'s okay Shade… you can tell me what's wrong. I'm your friend remember?" Shade's lack of proper words started to worry Knuckles even further, until five minutes later here Shade began to calm down and managed out through sobs:

"N-Noir…. He… he's dead… Knuckles…"

Knuckles was puzzled by this, since he was totally left out on the secret. But instead he said, "Shade… please calm down… just relax…please…" Knuckles' soothing tone was futile and Shade did not follow him. "Who's Noir?" he stupidly asked after a while. At this point, however, with Shade's unstable emotional state, she snapped at Knuckles and shook herself away from Knuckles. "Like you would care!" she accused, all the more shocking Knuckles. However, his tone was firm: "Shade, please! I care for anything about you! You… You're probably the only friend I have…" His voice shook and trailed off at the last sentence.

Shade showed no mask of emotion when she said, "Noir was my ex," she said when her sobbing was less violent, and Knuckles became curious as Shade began to reveal her past life that was concealed her mask. He felt a tinge of jealousy when he said unemotionally, "Oh." Shade glared at Knuckles as cold as subzero, and Knuckles loosened up. "I didn't break up with him. Ix did. I… I loved him…" Shade's voice trailed off as she silently wept again. Knuckles placed his hand on Shade's shoulder again, comforting her again.

Before Shade knew it she began to ramble off for half an hour about her past life- how her clan was cursed, her oppression under Ix, her experience about Noir, and even showing Knuckles the Signal of the Mate, removing her gloves. Knuckles didn't cringe or say, "Hey gee what's the time?" to make himself look bored in the verbal barrage. He was truly fascinated and simultaneously astonished by Shade's interesting life- he had spent seventeen years guarding a jewel and she had spent hers fighting for her clan in misery.

When Shade stopped for oxygen, Knuckles again fought for words that would comfort one of opposite sex, and thus said, "I…I'm so sorry Shade… I mean I always knew your life was… bad… but I never knew-"

On hearing Knuckles' tone of empathy, Shade reciprocally showed more concern for Knuckles. "No Knuckles…" she said, smiling as she reflected on her utter foolishness. "You don't have to. Besides, I'm sure you have your own love life to worry about…"

Memory Lane trapped Knuckles once again, and he courageously released a stream of tears. "I…I'm just too hard-hearted Shade." The crimson echidna sighed, his sweet breath spilling over Shade, and the latter knew that he was going to reveal his life- no matter how short this event was going to be.

He continued, "But I'm too gullible as well. I can never trust anybody… except you." The terracotta echidna exchanged smiles with him. "I can never trust… Rouge." On mentioning the white bat's name- of which was described by one of Sonic's friends how much the two were such polar opposites- Shade snorted in disgust. She knew how slutty Rouge was, evidence from her flirting with Knuckles, even in front of Shad, would in turn feel a strange mixture of envy, fury and sorrow.

"Yeah. Rouge is too cold for somebody who throws herself at other people. I can't believe how extraordinarily 'lucky' would be the person who possesses her virginity." Now Shade had assumed that Knuckles was on the same page as her by insulting her, but Knuckles had slipped that last sentence unwittingly, and was indeed not on Shade's side, so his electrifying glare paralysed Shade. "Shade, that was me."

Hot shame pulsed through the terracotta's veins, as her face turned into the colour of Knuckles' skin. Of course, a hint of jealousy and fury was inscribed in her face as well. "Oh." she managed through her teeth. "Then… I'm so sorry."

Shade's sincere tone threw Knuckles off, and he waved his hand to deflect the apology. "Nah, it's fine Shade. It's just that… at first I loved her." A single tear dropped from his amethyst eye. "When she told me she loved me too… I … I just lost it. I thought that we could be together… for eternity. But after I got caught up with our love-making… she just made off with it." He gestured to the Master Emerald. Shade's blood began to boil. "How could she just do that? How could she be so sinister?"

Knuckles snorted. "Actually I wasn't surprised. I was kinda expecting it anyway… but I got caught up." He sighed again. "After I got the Master Emerald back, I was stupid… I worried for her! I kept thinking- what if she pregnant? I mean, we're not even of same species!" Both of them shuddered- cross-species were condemned from society, and they looked hideous. Most cross-species died with their parents, of which was one of Knuckles' worries.

"Rouge was probably infertile, cos' she shagged a bunch of other people and she never did get pregnant." Knuckles speculated, soothing himself as well as Shade. "But the point is…" he stared into Shade's eyes solemnly as his voice grew more matter-of-fact: "after that I told myself I couldn't trust anybody anymore. And even before that I was not even really part of the team… Sonic keeps teasing me… Tails keeps shying away… Amy keeps losing her temper… and a bunch of other stuff. I was… ostracized."

Shade had to stifle a giggle, but her smile reached her eyes, although empathy washed over her as his life encroached closer to hers. "Welcome to the world of Shade Nocturnia." Both of them chuckled shortly, before Shade continued, "My life really is sad…" and then she remembered something to 'accidentally' share with Knuckles: "I bet nobody knew it was my birthday today."

It worked; embarrassment washed over Knuckles as he stiffened, shock pulsing through him, and when he remembered how to speak he stuttered, "I…I'm so sorry Shade…" before Shade waved it off with a hand, "It doesn't matter Knuckles… not really." Knuckles' voice began to get nervous as he said something that he was aware was stupid: "Well… happy birthday?"

Shade laughed a chorus of melodious bells that soothed Knuckles' sense of hearing. She never laughed so sweetly before. "Well then thanks, but you don't have do anything. You can just keep me company." Then she sighed with a hint of false sadness. "You want to hear something sad?" she suddenly said. Knuckles stared at her, puzzled. "What?"

Shade exhaled sharply as a laugh. "You're my best friend." Knuckles laughed heartily. "Yeah, that really is sad." Shade's smile reached her eyes. "Proves that I really don't have friends doesn't it? But…" she gazed at Knuckles with solemn lilac eyes in his amethyst. "I'm quite serious… I mean, you saved my life as your worst enemy… and you helped me so much…"

Knuckles returned her smile reciprocally. "It's alright, Shade. You deserve it so much, and not just because you're the first other live echidna I know. You're really great…. you're strong… and talented… and smart… and kind… and beautiful…" Suddenly Knuckles trailed off at the realisation that he was giving too many compliments to Shade, and that she would feel uncomfortable- any taken person would have known that. His muzzle camouflaged into his skin.

But instead Shade laughed sweetly again, and she said, "Thanks. You're great as well… You're strong and muscular… and handsome… and so nice to me…"

Before either echidna knew it, their hands had intertwined and locked. Shade found herself involuntarily leaning closer to Knuckles in a rather cliché way… and suddenly her mind popped several doubts. 'You're not of the same clan' was one of them, and this was major- should they mate of course, as the two clans were rival and should the two actually… mate… it would create dire consequences. 'You're not allowed to start a new life' was another, and so was 'He will betray you'. But her mind was so fixated on the growing lust that she possessed for the crimson echidna and her mind was about explode from all her bottled emotions… and besides- what did she have to lose? Noir was dead, and Knuckles had lost his love… and they needed to recuperate.

Knuckles in turn had the same passion for Shade- but he had already been tricked by Rouge, so the chances that Shade would betray him… was very low. Shade had revealed her past life to him, and complimented him more than he had ever been in seventeen years in the last ten seconds. He had strong feelings for Shade- and even if they did… mate… then it would be alright wouldn't it? They were old enough and since the Nocturnus tradition applied to the Pachamac… what did they have to lose?

And with this, and with no regrets, Shade pulled Knuckles closer with no restrictions into a gentle kiss.

Knuckles' lips burned with hot passion as he felt them moving slowly and rhythmically with Shade's lips, enjoying the luxury of the oh so sweet taste, which danced along with Knuckles as well and before she knew it her body became numb and Knuckles' weight began to overcome her, lying over her on the ground and feet away from the Emerald. Due to a demand for oxygen, the two pulled away after three minutes, and their breaths mixed in a sweet aroma as they panted for dear air, staring into their eyes. Shade began to spill her confessions to Knuckles:

"I love you," she said in a hush and in between pants. "It's stupid and weird and practically a crime, but the truth is I love you so much…" Knuckles interrupted her by pressing his lips against Shade tenderly. "Don't say that Shade," Knuckles said huskily. "I… I love you. In fact, I loved you ever since we met… we had an affinity, and both of us could sense it. I'm not lying… I love you." "I love you too," was Shade's statement before their lips converged again in a passionate waltz.

After what seemed like an eternity, Knuckles tore off, and he espied Shade's palm- although it was silent, its hue had indeed changed- now a hue that camouflaged into the Emerald's halo emitted into Knuckles' face. As Shade's lilac eyes followed Knuckles' amethyst, she caught sight of the Signal. "My mate," she whispered with her mouth close to Knuckles' ear and tenderly stroking his quills, obviously tempting him. "Then again, you're not my mate until you take me…"

But Knuckles pulled away, making both of them sit up, and he stared glumly into Shade's lilac eyes. "Shade, look. I love you… so much… but what if you-"

"Knuckles, it's OK. Don't worry if I get hurt, I'll know that you'll be there to comfort me in the end. I love you, and that's the only thing that matters to me. Didn't our traditions state that?" By this she meant that echidna traditions were that if you are in love with another person, mating should be the next things to occur. Knuckles had considered this to be ridiculous nonsense though.

"But once we mate, it can never have any rewinding of the clock. The sand grains cannot go against gravity." Knuckles and Shade's eyes began to gleam in the moonlight.

"I don't really care, Knuckles." Shade smiled lovingly. "I have no regrets. To me I've made so many bad mistakes, when I realised that all I had to was to seal my fate rather than wait for the mate. Please Knuckles… do it for me… I love you…" Shade's voice trailed off, awaiting Knuckles' response.

Knuckles cupped Shade's tender face, pondering if he should steal Shade's virginity for the sake of love. If he was as selfish as… Rouge then he would obviously, and unlike him she had nothing physically valuable to steal. But he had heard of people getting addicted to sex should the first be premarital, and the possible abuse of love of the other party. However, that usually happened to those of other species [like hedgehogs], whereas to echidnas technically being mates meant being married… and Shade's destined mate's soul resided in Knuckles' body. Such a decision was difficult to make, especially with Knuckles struggling against the barrier of his hard head to think over what was best for the one person he loved.

His answer was in the form of pulling Shade into an approving kiss, and both of their hearts launched into fireworks. This wasn't like the others, which were rather slow and gentle. This was burning with hot passion burning in their lips like flames, as the two savoured the moment their hearts desired. And suddenly, in the sky, the stars' brightness grew in intensity as the gods laid out their next phase of the plan…

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This is where the lemon will begin, which will be written by T1Weasel. It's been a while since I wrote...

**Here I end, holospartoi258**


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